Shamrock Recreation Center

Shamrock Recreation Center

Reviews Summary

The reviews show a mix of experiences. Many praise the fun atmosphere, friendly staff, and great place for kids, especially with bouncy houses and family-friendly activities. However, several criticize poor service, understaffing, cleanliness issues, and problems with reservations or party planning. Some long-time visitors miss the old bowling alley. While most positive reviews highlight happy children and good value, negative ones cite rude staff, disorganization, and maintenance problems. The venue seems ideal for families when running smoothly but frustrating when mismanaged.

About This Listing

Wheelchair Accessible

Who Can Play?

Most arcades welcome all ages (some may have age restrictions for certain games)
Minors may need parent/guardian supervision (policies vary by location)
No gaming experience required - games range from beginner to expert level
Comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes recommended for safety
Valid ID may be required for certain attractions or age verification
Groups and parties welcome (advance booking may be required)

*Note: Age restrictions and policies may vary by arcade. Check with your local facility for specifics.*

First-Time Visitors

First-time visitors may need to sign a waiver or register for a game card. Staff are typically available to help explain games and provide tutorials. Some arcades offer newcomer specials or free play sessions to help you get started.

Common Restrictions:

Age-Based Some games may have height or age requirements for safety reasons
Capacity Popular games may have wait times during peak hours

*Note: Policies vary by arcade. Confirm with your local facility.*

What to Bring

Cash or card for tokens/credits (some arcades are cashless)
Valid ID for age verification or membership signup
Phone to capture high scores and memories (check photo policies)

*Note: Payment methods and requirements may differ by arcade.*

Preparing for Your Visit

Check arcade hours and peak times online before visiting
Eat beforehand or check if the arcade has food options
Bring friends for multiplayer games and competitions
Wear comfortable clothes you can move freely in
Avoid bringing valuable items that could be lost or damaged
Check for special events, tournaments, or discount days
Set a budget for games and stick to it
Stay hydrated, especially during long gaming sessions

*Note: Tips may vary by arcade type and location.*

How to Get Started

Most arcades accept walk-ins, but call ahead during busy periods or for large groups. Check for membership deals!

Other Helpful Info

Most visits last 1-3 hours depending on games and group size
Popular games may have longer wait times during weekends and evenings
Many arcades offer unlimited play packages or time-based pricing
Some locations host tournaments and special events regularly
Prize redemption available at many arcades - save your tickets!

*Note: Policies, pricing, and features differ by arcade. Contact your local facility for details.*

Features

Wheelchair Accessible

Contact Information

Address

1051 E Main St

Springfield, Ohio 45503

Customer Reviews

The kids definitely loved it and at some point we will be back foe some more family fun

Terrible experience. Staff was super rude it ruined our whole time. I spent about $200 dollars and will never spend another dime at this establishment. The sign says all children must be supervised by an adult. Yet, the employees had their own children in there who were not being supervised. My oldest daughter had a wonderful birthday party here a few years ago. Not sure what happened since. But from now on we will find somewhere else to go.

It is a fun place. The kids did have a blast. I have really small kids and being mixed with the roudy bigger kids was a challenge. Food was good and priced how you would expect. The staff was good even though some of the guest kept them busy. Been there twice now and both times the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. It really burns off the energy.

The first time we had my son's party here there were a few rude employees but overall the kids had a blast so we decided to have our daughters party here and it was terrible. Money down the drain. It's filthy. People who work there are about worthless and lazy including the manager. I have a big family with a lot of kids who will not be coming here. You just lost a lot of business. This place needs new management and staff. I wouldn't recommend anyone have a party here.

Not sure what to say about this place as I've been here on a couple occasions. I always worry about places like this being a breeding ground for the worst cases of sickness. Each time I was there, I had to ask for something to clean the table where we sat. This made me also wonder how often (and with what) the equipment is actually sanitized - because we all know that "parent" who cares less about another's child and drags their sick kid in to infect any and everything they come into contact with. Also

My son had his 3rd birthday party here in September. The staff was less than helpful, the "party host" that was appointed to us handed us our plates and such and walked away. We did not see her for the remainder of the party. All of our guests were confused at where to go, no one was able to get their wristbands because they were understaffed and the staff they did have was just standing around chatting. There were a group of kids there that seemed to be one of the employees children, or of some relation t

We took kids ageing from 1.5 yrs to 14. They had fun for the most part. The biggest issues were the staff and overall cleanliness. We had to wait over an hour for a pizza. When we went to buy drinks, the staff was rude and short. The soda machine was a complete mess. The bathroom floor was so sticky, my shoes stuck to the floor. To be fair, a lady had spilled her entire alcoholic drink, but nobody ever cleaned it up. We were there for 5 hours. Later, the bull broke and almost hurt my niece. She only weighs

Large indoor bounce house with ~10 blowup toys, so plenty to keep the kids busy. The place was a little dirty, and the concessions/food ordering was a little hectic or poorly staffed or both. The bathrooms were dirty. Still, if you are okay with the dirtiness and poor customer service, the bouncy toys are enough to keep the kids busy for 4 hours at least.

Great place for families, I didn't think the price was bad, you pay a one time admission and they kids can play all day. The place was clean, staff was very friendly and attentive. I will definitely bring my family back for another visit.

We looked this place up as something fun to do to get out of the car for awhile during a long road trip passing through town. When we first showed up I was a little worried about the area of town we were in..... When we went inside the place was huge and offers so many things for children to do for a very cheap price. Our daughter who is 4 enjoyed jumping on all the blow ups, riding the bouncing bull, and kicking the soccer ball around in thier inside the soccer court. We sure enjoyed our time we spent

I remember when this was a bowling alley. It was ok then. I was a bit skeptical a lot then changing to a place like this, but it wasn't too bad. We paid just $10 per kid and they could pay all day provided they kept their wirst brands on. What I liked best was they layout. We could sit up anywhere in the top area and see the whole bouncy house area to keep an eye on our kids. So you could easily let your kids play and burn off a lot of energy.

Was a party guest here this evening. Not sure how the host mom liked the experience but I thought the place was kind of a hole. It was freezing cold, shabby looking in some areas, some of the women's restroom stall doors wouldn't lock, only one soap dispenser for two sinks, one paper towel dispenser was jammed and the other one was empty. Purchased a soda that was free refills, went to get a refill and it tasted like plain carbonated water. Not great customer service. Not really enough seating The kids lik

A cool idea. Not sure if I'd host my own event there. All supervision is left to adults, which is fine but I'm not sure what stops someone else from walking out the door with your kid...

Wonderful place for kids birthday parties.. they had a blast

They only have certain things for the kids to do at certain times. The food is expensive, your not supposed to bring your own food or drink in. But you can bring a cake or cupcakes if your having a birthday party. You have to reserve your spot. Make sure you bring sanitizer for everyone and make sure you and your party use it. But if your looking for a good way to entertain your kids this is the way to go.

When weather is cold, driving to Sky Zone or Get Air in Dayton feels far away, this is best choice you have in town. My son had fun time here with great workout. Making friends here seem easy and staff is very friendly. Only suggestion that I like to suggest is fixing their pagers so that they don't have to shout out to everyone over loud mic system to announce so and so's pizza is ready. Many times, I wish I should have brought ear plugs ;(

THE WORST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD THROWING ONE OF MY KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTIES! The only reason i am giving them a 1 star is because i can't give a ZERO! I reserved a spot from 6-8 for my daughter's 5th birthday party online which required a $50 deposit. So when I arrived about 5:45 my tables weren't ready, they had canceled my reservations because somehow it said I reserved at 4-5 so they wrote me as a no show. So then Cara took care of me as setting up the tables quickly for me which I appreciated. She t

1st visit a few months are there where some older girls (10-15) running around and knocking little kids down. One of them happened to be my 3 year old epliptic multiple times. We informed manager Jordan and he did nothing but be rude to us! He defended the girls stating that they are going to run around. 2nd visit tonight a little boy (10) threw a hard plastic ball several times after being asked about 10 times to stop and he ended up pelting my 8 year old niece in the face and she got in his face yelled a

First time I have ever been there and hopefully the last time. It is 20? outside and there was no heat in the building, it was only 52? inside. How can you operate a business without heat?! The carpet was filthy. Not someplace I want to take my family again. Oh yeah, and the ceiling is too low for indoor soccer.

I don't want to give this place even a 1/4 of a star but, this review will not post if I don't click on a star so let me just tell you this place is awful for many reasons but my biggest problem with them, and the reason I will never use them or recommend them to ANYONE , is because I had my daughter's 6th birthday party planned at this place x 2 months but, on the very day of the party when I go to decorate our space, they were CLOSED for renovations. I had no notification of this of any kind and all I got

Wonderful experience. Great bowling, good food and affordable drinks in the bar. They even put in a bounce area and games for the kids. well worth the money. Staff is great! keep up the good work.

Our last visit at Shamrock was very unpleasant. I called a day ahead of time to reserve lanes, but when I arrived they had no record of that. I double checked and I did call the right phone number. They were very understaffed, and at least one employee was unnecessarily rude. We were lucky to get any lanes, considering a band was taking up most of them. They would play a couple songs, then take a long break, then play a few more, then take another long break. So there were gaps where no music was play

Since my review on Facebook was deleted by them here we are and I will also review to every site that they are accepting reviews on. Do not book your child's birthday party here. We had our party booked for August 6th before that date we were called to reschedule for August 13th because they had overbooked the parties for August 6th. The day comes we get there with our party and the facility is closed. We were not contacted in anyway about the closure. I make a review on Facebook and they responded, that th

Mr. Jones is an advocate for youth awareness, as well as community togetherness! This recreational center is worth anyones time!????????? Great for the whole family! Photos coming soon.

Was just there today had a great time! The staff did great given how busy it was and the pizza was really good. Love the atmosphere very family friendly.

Personally I do not like it and I do not feel it is Sufficiently set up for handicap people; especially the restrooms. I find it dangerous for so many adults to just stroll in with no children.

Shamrock has really let its self go! And the bounce house prices are now 10 dollars?! They got a decent business but would it kill them to put LOCKS on the bathroom stalls in the womens locker room, with the money they're making? Or even replace the plastic tables and chairs? No... I don't think so... Half the games in the arcade don't even work and the staff watching the bouncy house section was terrible! The guy watching kids at the wipe out was TEXTING! and there were kids on the other side that kept goi

Good food and a great place to take the kids,only problem we had was the staff had their own kids in there as well and made it hard for paying customers to get in the inflatable balls in the indoor soccer field,i feel the staff shouldn't have their kids on the job unless they are paying customers not right for the paying customers,although the manager was quickly to respond to the situation,he took care of the situation right then...

I can't believe they took out the bowling alley. I bought here as a child and there are no more Bowling Lanes in this bowling alley. If you are not a parent or you don't like kids this is not the place for you. Run away very fast

Great for kids, better than Chuck e cheese. The staff needs to change the music to more kid friendly. Otherwise a great place

Very good time. Had our Daughters 8th birthday party. Everyone was very accommodating and helpful for everyone to have good time.

Great place. Took my daughter and she had a blast. Food was good and employees are super friendly

Its usually a nice place to go but today has been awful. It's very hot in here. Air is not working. Kids are playing and jumping and complaining how hot they are.

EXCELLENT!!! I HAVE TAKEN MY NEPHEWS THERE 3 TIMES SINCE THE BOUNCEY HOUSES OPENED! IT HELPS TO GO EARLY .THE STAFF ARE WONDERFUL ! WHEN THERE IS SEVERAL BIRTHDAY PARTIES IT WOULD HELP TO HIRE EXTRA STAFF. WE LOVE THE AREA FOR THE CHILDREN. IT IS REASONABLE ALSO . THANK YOU!! SPRINGFIELD OHIO NEEDED A PLACE FOR CHILDREN TO PLAY INDOORS. ONLY$7 PER CHILD FOR ALL DAY . WE HAD TO LEAVE AND COME BACK DUE TO APPOINTMENTS BUT THE KIDS LEFT THEIR BRACELETS ON AND WERE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE PLAYING!!FOME KATHY SPENCE

Used to be fun for kids & adults. They should've left some of the bowling lanes in, the games are too expensive, and it seems like there is less bouncy houses then before.

It isn't a family fun center anymore. Now it's a stop for Haitians

Kids love this place! 1 price for the whole time they are open that day! Pizza was pretty good!

Had a wonderful time...I am so glad that Springfield has such a wonderful place for our children to go and play safely! Thank you!

Plenty of activities, clean and safe. A little pricey but worth it. Loads of fun for kids and active parents!

Customer service was excellent. Great pice. Well worth it. Kids had a blast!

Getting drinks was a disaster. we had to wait 20 minutes but the manager was helpfull. We had one round from the house.

This was pretty cheep and amazing pizza ?? bounce houses we're great staff were really nice loved it

Kids loved it as well as one of our adult family friends, who actually went on the bouncers.

It's like a small stadium ??? in Springfield ohio, directly in main street. You can do alots of things there as marriage, events, birthday party etc...

Great place for kids very nice people a lil expensive on the food an drinks but great activatys

Came day after xmas, closed for employee party. Not advertised on web or on doors, sorry lost a party of 10 kids and $200 went to chucker cheese

we went to a birthday party there and EVERYBODY HAD AN AWESOME TIME...EMPLOYEES ARE SUPER FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL

Wasn't crowded at all... 40.00 playtime included dinner and soft drinks!

Good pizza great place to let the kids run and have some adult time with friends

Wish they still had a few lanes for the adults whole the kids played but pretty good for younger kids.

I always thought this was a bowling alley but it's a great place to take your kids to play!

Family friendly.. Very great place to bring children ages 3-10

It's fun I went their with my cousins and they have a wipe out center in the bouncy house area

Great fun for children and adults. I will definitely go again.

Service was terrible and it was so hot inside you couldn't breath I will go somewhere else next time for a birthday party. Never again.

I think it's pricey for just some bouncy house. And not all were even open. No attendant on the floor at all.

I was a little disappointed with the party coordinator. But great place for kids to run wild.

Great place for the kids. And wow the pizza was awesome.

The kids had a blast and there's plenty to do.

My 1.5 year old loved it!! Will definitely return!

It was perfect for my kids and fun for me as well!

Gorgeous what up you and Good morning beautiful holla back Cutepie GREAT DAY peace

We love Shamrock! Its close to our home, lots of fun & variety, affordable.

Great place for a birthday party, the kids love it!

Great place had a good time with the kids

My kids loved it teens to toddlers all loved it.

They messed it up on the inside I would piss on the steps before I piss in the bathroom... booooooooo shamrock sucks ass

The kids had a blast loved every minute of it

love the new play area make kids what to come more

Great place for small kid's to play.

Fun for the kids adults it sucks miss the bowling lanes

It was a great time we will come back

Pretty fun place, kids had fun

Great for kids birthdays but outdated..

Great place to take your kids

Came in at noon and was treated like we were the only people that mattered

Could be better. Games are over priced.

I love tje bounch houses .

My grandbabies love it here.

I felt like I needed security there

You have all kinds of fun here

Great place for kids!

Haven't been there in awhile

Over priced for activities that are available.

Great fun for the kids

Cool place for family

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s it like visiting an arcade today?

It’s a mix of nostalgia and high-energy fun! Many arcades blend retro classics like Pac-Man and pinball with modern VR games, racing simulators, and rhythm challenges — often with music, lights, and a social vibe.

Is it better to go alone or with friends?

Both can be great! Solo visits let you focus on your favorite games, while going with friends adds competition, teamwork, and laughs. Many people plan arcade meetups as a casual hangout or even date spot.

What should I bring to an arcade?

Usually just yourself and a way to pay (some arcades still use coins, others use cards or apps). If you're competitive, bring your A-game. If you're social, bring friends or meet new ones over multiplayer games.

What’s the best time to visit an arcade?

Weekdays or early afternoons are usually less crowded — perfect for focused play. Evenings and weekends bring the buzz, especially at barcades or venues with DJs, tournaments, or themed nights.

Can I meet new people at arcades?

Absolutely! Arcades attract a mix of casual players and serious gamers. Whether you're jumping into a four-player co-op or chatting between rounds, it's a fun, low-pressure way to connect over shared interests.

Are arcades still just for kids?

Not at all. While many arcades are family-friendly, there are also adult-oriented ones with full bars, 18+ nights, or vintage nostalgia themes. Arcades today cater to everyone — from first-timers to lifelong gamers.

Are there events or tournaments I can join?

Yes! Many arcades host regular competitions, retro nights, cosplay parties, and more. Whether you're into high scores or just want to watch and vibe, events add an extra layer to the experience.

What if I’m not great at arcade games?

No worries — arcades are about having fun, not being perfect. Try a variety of games, ask others for tips, and remember: the vibe is more “let’s play” than “let’s win.”